Ashes, Ashes, Wonderland Falls Down
by Jalissa Chase
Summary: God's given a select group of Earth's children a second chance...in a different land he calls Wonderland. But the thing is, they're not sure they're the first group to settle there. Are they a second experiment?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! :)**

**Just a heads up, this one's a wait-and-see! It starts with a somewhat little girl, but it doesn't end with one. Alice in Wonderland sucks. It's creepy and gives little kids nightmares about a cat that hangs out in trees and a Queen that runs around with an axe. That's shit. I can do this way better.**

**Love,**

**~Jalissa Chase**

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><p>Alice was sitting alone at the dining room table when she felt the shift. When the hour of doom of one's life comes, you don't expect to be alone. You image yourself surrounded by loved ones and friends.<p>

Unfortunately, Alice didn't have that. Her father was a greedy businessman who was out conning the rich into investing in his sinking businesses and her mother was ill and angry, demanding she be pampered by few and seen by none. Her room was on the top floor of the mansion and Alice had been forbidden to enter.

So when the world came falling down, Alice was sitting, waiting, unsure exactly what to do with the extra hours she had. When the sky filled with white, and the air seemed to heat up, she walked to the window. Pressing her face to the glass, she watched as the sky filled with blue lightning and the thunder shook the ground, sending off sounds like a thousand broken church bells.

This is the end, it seemed to say.

"What's happening?" Alice wondered aloud to no one.

"People of Earth," a loud, booming voice thundered. Alice spun around trying to find the source, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "I am your God. As a viewer of your terribleness, I have come to find that you are no longer in need of my guidance. You will simply ignore it as you always have. Therefore, I shall abandon you and start anew with a select few on a new homeland—one I have created elsewhere, in a fold of existence you shall never find, in a place I have named Wonderland due to its terrific potential. You have one hour to say your good-byes."

Alice waited. She listened to the wails and the screams. Above her, her sickly mother began to shriek. The maids of the house ran in a panic, leaving their places in the kitchen and running out the doors. Still, she waited.

No one came. Not even her mother.

Sitting down at her place at the table, she waited for the end. Before she knew what was happening, she was falling asleep. It was fast and painless, and she found herself spinning and seeing bright, vivid colors. Her whole mind reached out and caught nothing.

She simply began to fall.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice awoke on a field of flowers.

The change was sudden and strange. All at once she felt planted, as if she hadn't fallen at all. The swirl of colors righted themselves, showing a beautiful and magnificent place. Flowers and tall, ticklish grass went out as far as the eye could see. In the distance, there were trees and large rocky cliffs, and a narrow stream leading off into the distance.

Above her, the sky was a faded purple. It was like the color of nighttime, only she could still see the white clouds in the sky. They were surrounded by bright balls of light that Alice couldn't believe but knew were stars. They were mostly blue, but occasionally there was a white or black one.

Alice struggled to stand up. She felt bigger and taller than before. Looking down at her hands, she found them to be long and narrow. Somehow, in her fall, she had grown up.

"Hello?" she called. Her voice was like a young woman's, not yet perfect, but getting there. She wanted to hear it again. "I'm Alice! Is anyone out there?"

"Hey!" a boy called. He seemed to suddenly appear, wearing long black slacks and a white dress shirt. His hair was a fluffy blond and his eyes a chocolate brown. "I'm over here!"

Alice ran to him.

"How did we get here?" he asked.

"I don't know," Alice said. "I don't understand it at all. One second I was in my house, the next…I was here."

"At least you were in your house," the boy grumbled. "I was in a street! The man who I had taken the wallet from spun around, and then I fainted! I don't have to wonder why my butt is sore!"

"He _beat_ you?" Alice was bewildered.

"What would you do when a boy pocketed your wallet?" the boy asked. "I admit, it's not something I'm exactly proud of, but by Christ! I've never been caught before."

"The end of the world happened, and all you could do was steal some poor man's wallet?" a third voice complained.

Alice and the boy spun around. Standing before them was a beautiful, china-doll looking girl with black ringlet hair and stormy blue eyes. She was dressed in a ruffled black dress with a ridiculous white hat tied with a satin ribbon.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"I'm Catrina Cheshire," the girl said proudly. "And who, may I ask, are you two?"

"I'm Maddox," the boy said, puffing out his chest. "Maddox Hatter. Everybody just calls me Mad or Hatter. It has a better ring to it."

"People call you _Mad_?" Catrina said in disbelief. "No wonder you're just a little caramel short of a nut-nut bar!" Maddox didn't seem in the least bothered. In fact, he gave her a wicked grin and crossed his arms across his chest. Not in the least amused, Catrina turned to Alice. "Well? Who might you be?"

"My name is Alice," she said nervously. Catrina's dark eyes seemed to see right through her. "Alice Lucinda Dodgson."

Catrina's eyes lit up. "I've heard of your father! You're a fine lady! Thank goodness!" she smirked at Maddox. "I thought I'd be trapped with our beggars like you!"

"Puh-lease," Maddox waved her off. "You only get goodness like Maddox Hatter once in a lifetime. Go crawl into a hole, lady."

"How dare you!"

Maddox yelled something in return, but Alice didn't hear it. She was too busy looking around them. The field was suddenly fuller then it had been before. Three children had turned into about nineteen, some older than them and some younger.

_I wonder if any of them found themselves in different bodies, _she wondered. _Maybe all of us have advanced a few years._

"Excuse me?" she interrupted Maddox and Catrina.

Catrina's face was bright red with embarrassment and Maddox's was bright pink with laughter. They both turned to look at her and their faces went blank with surprise at the children around them.

"Are you two…older then you were before?" she asked.

Both of them glanced at each other and then down.

"Holy hell!" Maddox yelled.

Catrina was thrilled. "I'm finally breathtakingly beautiful!"

The others looked down at themselves and began to scream; they began asking questions Alice had no answer for. They seemed confused and scared. The more excited they became the darker purple the sky grew. Beginning to feel on edge, Alice decided to stand up.

"Excuse me!" she called. "Could we all…come together...oh, I don't know…over here, by the flowers maybe? We're upsetting the sky." As she pointed upwards, their eyes followed. The sky flickered with blue lightning. Following her advice, they all moved closer and sat down around her. "Well, this wasn't what I had in mind, but…let's see…who's the oldest? I'm eleven this year."

"Eleven?" someone squeaked. "But you're a lady!"

"I don't understand it either," she admitted. "Is anyone here older then eleven?"

Two hands were raised.

"And who might you two be?" Alice asked.

"I'm Gregory Heart," said the boy.

"I'm Edina Heart," said the girl.

Alice noticed their hands were linked. The girl's hand was quite pudgy and fat, while the boy's was skinny and lost within her grip. They were complete opposites: the girl was fat and the boy tiny. The girl's hair was a deep, ugly orange, while the boy's was a faded red.

"How old were you?" Alice asked.

"Twenty," said Gregory. "We were just married."

"Twenty-one," said Edina. "I just had my birthday."

Alice stared at them both long and hard. No matter how hard she tried to imagine them older, Gregory still looked six and Edina still appeared seven.

"Well, since you're the oldest, what do you suppose we should do?" she asked.

Edina stated, "We should build shelter, of course!"

Alice led them to the woods. The other children, unsure of what exactly to do, followed. Maddox helped the boys gather wood while Catrina led a group of girls off to find things to use as rope. While the two other groups worked, Alice decided to lead another group out to explore. They decided that when the sky began to darken, they would all meet back at Gregory and Edina. For some reason, the two had taken seats on a rock near the forest and had yet to move.

Alice led her group for hours. They were a quiet bunch, amazed by what they saw and not saying much. In their time, they found caves, a place with fresh water, and another great forest.

When they had almost gone too long, Alice told them it was time to turn back. She received a few relieved sighs at this. Leading the way, they came back to Gregory and Edina. Once again, they were seated on the rocks without much care. Around them, Catrina and Maddox had started building tent-like structures.

Catrina stood up. "What do you think, Alice?" she asked.

"Aren't they great?" Maddox agreed.

"You two did better than us," Alice said with a sigh. "It's pretty much the same out there: fields, a river, and trees. I don't know how we're going to navigate it."

"Navigate it?" Edina cried. "We're going to stay here and wait for rescue!"

"That's right, rescue!" Gregory agreed.

"But that's silly," Maddox said. "Clearly, there's no one else around. Don't you remember the voice before you ended up here? This is Wonderland. We're trapped here."

Catrina hugged herself. "That can't be right," she said. "Surely there would be grownups here if that were so."

"There are grownups," Edina said. "Gregory and I are here. And we're not alone. I'm sure the others are catching up."

The rest of the crowd slowly agreed, but it was clear no one was sure what to think. They all rested in the tents, waiting for something to appear. Instead, the sky just grew darker and darker purple.

Until the first rain drop fell.

It was sudden and unexpected. Someone cried out in surprise. Everyone sat up from their daze, wondering what had just happened. Overhead, thunder rumbled.

"It's going to pour!" Edina screeched.

"Alice!" one of the members of the searching group cried. "There are caves over on the other end of the rocky cliffs! We could hide there until the rain stops!"

"You're right!" Alice agreed. "Everyone, let's go that way!"

By the time they reached the cliffs, it was pouring rain. The caves were cold, but they were sheltered. Huddled together, the children waited, watching the rain.

"When do you think it'll stop?" one asked.

"Maybe never," Catrina said.

Maddox was more positive. "I'm sure it will."

He was right. A while later, the sky cleared and the fields looked just as lovely as before. Instead, the air grew hot and humid, and the water that seeped into the caves made it unbearable.

"What about the forest?" another one of the members of the searching group offered. "We could walk into it for the shade. If we keep walking, maybe we'll stay cooler."

"It's worth a shot," Catrina agreed.

This time, nobody wasted a second listening to either Edina or Gregory. They ran for the woods, feeling the cool shade and the peaceful breeze that ran through the trees.

But, it wasn't long until they reached the end.

But this time, they didn't see just open area.

"I thought you said it was open area, as far as the eye could see?" Maddox asked.

"We didn't go this far," Alice said.

"Clearly," Catrina said. "You would have seen this."

Before them was a city. It had skyscrapers, cars, shops, and even benches lining the sidewalks. There were papers littering the streets, full trash cans, and doors left ajar, as if the residents had run out.

"Where are we?"

Walking in, they saw the same name over and over again: Wonderland. It was on every sign, every flyer, and every bench. It was usually printed in yellow and followed with a smiley face.

But they couldn't all help but think the same thing:

_If Wonderland's a happy place, why is it completely empty, as if all the residents suddenly had to run for their lives?_

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><p><strong>So, I guess you could say this is the "real" Chapter One, since all the bad stuff happens, but I divided them because in Chapter One they're on Earth and Chapter Two they're in Wonderland. Now they're screwed. Yep, it can only get better from here. The only thing that could possibly make this better would be a Left 4 Dead-styled apocolypse.<strong>

**...Which, if you think about it, is a REALLY good idea...**

**Love ya'll,**

**~Jalissa Chase! :)**


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